The Ballad of the Cetra
by Miyamashi
Summary: A fic about the Promised Land...not what one would expect...


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The Ballad of the Cetra

Miyamashi- This is just something that I thought of while sketching some fanart. I decided I needed a break from writing Color Me Crimson anyway, so I thought "what the heck." Keep in mind that this fic was not written to be Anti-Aeris. Aeris happens to be one of my favorite characters from FF7, along with Rufus, Reno, and Vincent. Still, this fic may be disturbing to the Aeris fans who like her because of her sweetness and purity. This tale is **not** sweet, **not **pure, and by all means **not** something to read if you don't like twisted psycho angst. **You have been warned**. (And I do not claim to own anything from FF7, only my ideas.)

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First, the Lifestream formed the ground beneath our feet. 

Then came the furry , scaly, and feathered beasts that roam it.

Then came the ancient people.

These are the people that we call Cetra.

The Cetra lived peacefully on this planet,

Worshipping the Lifestream as their creator.

They knew nothing of the meanings of life or death,

They only knew that they existed, and they didn't care why.

Then came the demon from above,

The one we call Jenova.

Jenova taught the Cetra what it meant to die,

And most of those who didn't die warped into horrible monsters.

These are the creatures called humans.

The ancients who remained fled to a faraway sanctuary,

Which they named the Promised Land.

Centuries later, Jenova was finally defeated.

The Cetra crept from their Promised Land,

Only to find the barren wasteland that was the start of the modern world.

They went on to live lives of pain and suffering,

And to feel their cherished earth being destroyed.

The Promised Land was nearly forgotten,

Except by the souls of the departed.

Now, only one Cetra was left,

And the Promised Land awaited her return…

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The pain had stopped. Now, there was no Cloud, no Sephiroth, no anything. There was only a great dark void. This could only mean one thing. Aeris was dead. 

Now, she sat there, surrounded by nothingness. Strangely, she looked the same as she did when she was alive. She waited , but it didn't seem like anything was going to happen soon. Did this mean that the Promised Land had rejected her? Had her praying to Holy failed, and the Lifestream been destroyed? Had the Promised Land only existed in the faerie tales, and she would have to spend the rest of eternity in this void?

No, of course not. What kind of thoughts were haunting her mind? How could she doubt the existence of the one thing that she had spent her whole life waiting for? She didn't really know, but now those thoughts had subsided and the ancient laid back and stared up into the blackness. 

Or was she staring down? It was a bit hard to tell, since everything looked the same.

I guess it doesn't matter which way she stared. All that matters is that she stared. And stared she did for what would have been a long time…if there was time in that mass of nothingness. For time was a man-made thing, and now that there were no men around, time didn't exist. In fact, time never existed to the Cetra of old. 

Now, Aeris was beginning to become sleepy. Why she was sleepy when she was dead was a complete mystery. Still, maybe it is the soul that becomes sleepy, whether it be on the earth or after death. No matter what it was that made Aeris tired, she was, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to ponder her afterlife. So, she drifted off to sleep, and the blackness cradled her soul.

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Aeris awoke to a light that was filtering through the blackness. It was a strange light, and didn't seem to come from any one place. It caused the "air" around her to gain a sort of misty look. She looked at herself, and saw that there were no shadows on her body. She was awed. Now, the void wasn't so lonely. She stood and looked to where her feet were and saw that the light stopped at a kind of ground. The Cetra tried to stomp, and her foot just stopped where the light ended. She couldn't feel it, and it didn't make a sound. She looked around and saw that this strange land continued for an immeasurable distance in every direction. 

She began to walk aimlessly, having no idea where she would end up. She began to miss all of the people that she had spent her life with, but there was nothing she could do about it. Still she wandered, her surroundings never changing and her boots never clicking on the "ground" she walked on. It made her feel almost as if she wasn't moving at all. Aeris stopped and attempted to call out, but it was as if she didn't have a voice.

The silence of this place was beginning to close in on her. She knelt down, grasping her hair, crying silently. Soon, the world around her began to become so silent, she couldn't hear herself think. It felt as if she was being crushed.

Then it all stopped. Well, actually, it was more like it started. The faint sound of a gentle breeze cut through the black hole that was beginning to consume her soul. She felt it sweep through her hair. The ground underneath her became solid, and the misty aura of the air brightened to a pure light from above. Aeris opened her eyes and lessened the grip on her hair. She slowly stood and surveyed the scene around her. In every direction, delicate, silver flowers were sprouting from the ground. There was short greet grass under her feet. A moon crept through the still black sky, causing the metallic plants to glimmer. She gasped and heard the breath she took. It was beautiful. Aeris knew that this was the promised land.

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Somehow Aeris realized she had passed a test. Somewhere, deep inside of her, the spirit of the earth told her of the many before her who had perished in the void, and that she had overcome it. The flower girl couldn't imagine how it would have felt to have never escaped that dark entity. Yet, she sat on the soft, fertile ground. The voice of the earth soon faded, and Aeris laid back with a smile on her face. She had dreamt about the Promised Land many times, but she could have never imagined the perfection that surrounded her then. 

There was even music in the distance. Of course, it was a beautiful song, being sung by a woman with a beautiful voice. The strange thing was, this was a song that Aeris had heard before…somewhere, a very long time ago…

Once again, the Ancient began to wander, searching for the woman who strewed such a melodious tune into the air around her. It seemed to be coming from all around her. For a while, Aeris just stopped and stood in place, beginning to sing along, very softly. 

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Roses,

Growing in a field,

A gentle breeze sweeps over…

She closed her eyes and began to sway…

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Roses,

Flowers that can feel

Winter getting colder.

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Roses,

Whisper words of love,

As couples find each other.

Roses,

Hear the children playing,

As spring turns into summer.

Roses,

Shed a tear of sadness,

As life reaches its end.

Roses,

Take a life-long journey,

With petals crimson-red…

And the breath in her throat was frozen…

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Miyamashi- Let me guess, you hate me for stopping there, right? (I hope you do…I don't suck that bad, do I?) Don't worry, this isn't the end. I just figured that this would be a good place to break. I love writing cliffhangers! And yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that this chapter wasn't as angsty as I made it out to be, but wait until you see the ending! Uweeheehee!


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